Baked Beans Shaak

Baked Beans Shaak is a genius recipe from Urvashi Roe’s Biting Biting that turns a tin of cloyingly-sweet baked beans into a fabulously punchy, savoury curry that takes minutes to make.

Enjoy the curry with rice, Indian breads or on a slice of toast.

Check out our full review of Biting Biting by Urvashi Roe.

When Pete and I made this we found the salt level too high for our tastes, so we recommend using less than the recipe calls for and adding more to taste if needed.

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Baked Bean Shaak

We love baked beans and this is a super-quick Biting when you don’t have much inspiration to cook. We all have those days when we just want beans on toast so try this version next time. It is especially good on thickly sliced toast with a fried egg on top. Or perhaps scrambled eggs on the side. You can add boiled potatoes also. It is our go-to Biting when we get home from a holiday abroad or when my girls come home from a school trip. It’s quick and filling and makes the house smell fabulous.

Servings 4

Author Urvashi Roe

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sunflower or rapeseed oil
• 1½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1½ tsp cumin seeds
• 5 curry leaves (optional)
• a few sticks of cassia bark or cinnamon
• 2 × 415g tins baked beans
• 1½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• half a lemon
• 50 g fresh coriander, finely chopped

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a pan for a few minutes on medium heat and then add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves (if you’re using them) and cassia bark. Leave to fizzle and pop for a few seconds and then lower the heat.
• Add the baked beans carefully – because of the liquid the oil may spit a little. Add the salt, cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli powder and throw in half a lemon – put in the whole thing, don’t just add the juice (this is a nice technique that lets the lemon cook along with the spices and then you can squeeze in the juice just before serving).
• Cook on a very low heat for five to ten minutes to warm the beans through and allow the spices to infuse. If it sticks then you can add a little water. Take out the lemon and squeeze the juice into the beans, then stir in the chopped coriander and serve.

This is such a clever way to create a satisfying plate of food really quickly!

Let us know in the comments if you make this or have any questions!

Browse our full collection of curry recipes from around the world.

Kavey Eats received a review copy of Biting Biting: Snacking Gujerati-Style by Urvashi Roe from Kitchen Press. Recipe and photographs published with permission.